Raising the Cup presents: Game 5 2002 Stanley Cup Final

Every day at noon, we'll roll out another Cup clincher to stave off your hockey hunger. Watch your heroes of yesterday win it all ... again.

Fans can tune in at 12 p.m. ET every weekday for a different game -- and different champion. A complete program schedule can be found on NHLNetwork.com (U.S.).

The improbable playoff run by the Carolina Hurricanes in 2002 had not only given fans something to cheer about down in Raleigh, but also had the folks of Hartford taking notice. The Hurricanes franchise had been known as the Hartford Whalers from 1979-1997, where the club had won only one Stanley Cup Playoff series over that span. But if the Hurricanes were to capture their first Stanley Cup in franchise history they would first have to win Game 5 of their series against a Detroit Red Wings team seeking their third championship in just six seasons.

The 2001-02 Red Wings club featured Hall of Fame-caliber talent almost everywhere you looked, including current Hall members Brett Hull, Igor Larionov and Steve Yzerman and potential future nominees like goalie Dominik Hasek, legendary defensemen Nicklas Lidstrom and Chris Chelios, and forward Brendan Shanahan. Additionally, coach Scotty Bowman was aiming for his NHL record ninth Stanley Cup championship behind the bench. While the Hurricanes countered with a few NHL legends of their own in Ron Francis and Rod Brind'Amour, it wasn't nearly enough to match a Red Wings team that had won 16 of their 21 games after losing the first two meetings of the Western Conference Quarterfinals to the Vancouver Canucks.

Tomas Holmstrom gave the Wings a 1-0 lead in Game 5 off a nice centering pass from Larionov in the second period. Shanahan would add to that lead with a blistering slap shot past Hurricanes' goalie Arturs Irbe later in the second. While Carolina would eventually cut the Detroit lead to 2-1, the Red Wings were able to hang on for what would be their third of an eventual four Stanley Cup championships spanning from 1996-2008.